Thursday, September 30, 2010

Bend over, here it comes

The other day I had a client down on the island whose felony was dismissed and refiled as a misdemeanor as part of a plea agreement. Since he was still in custody I had to go to the County Jail to resolve the case on the misdemeanor jail docket.

I entered the jail and went back to the "control room" where the prosecutor had the files. The attorneys assigned to the jail docket were already there when I walked in. One of the attorneys was sitting at the table filling out the plea paperwork and waivers of appeal for each of their cases - before ever reviewing the case file or talking with their client.

How much fight can there possibly be when the attorney has already filled out the paperwork before walking into the holding cell? How vigorous a defense can that attorney present?

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